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Crocodilian Tooth?


jpwhite82

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Hey everyone, I was out fossil hunting in the Greens Mill Run in Greenville, NC yesterday and the find of the day was this what I believe is a crocodile tooth. I just wanted to get a second opinion on it. Thanks in advance! - Justin

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This appears to be a nice Deinosuchus tooth. The genus was actually discovered in NC.

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I'd say mosasaur. We typically find mosasaur teeth instead of crocodilian teeth in there.

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Justin....It looks like a Cretaceous Mosasaur maximus tooth.... :faint: ,,,, very very rare mosasaur tooth I have been hunting for one of those teeth for many years now...I did find a very small one ,,I think mine is a Maximus pterygoid tooth which is a set of teeth on the roof of a mosasaur mouth. That is a wonderful tooth.....If you ever get board of looking at .... I would be more then happy to take it off your hands..... :D ... there is both Cretaceous and Miocene deposits in GMR ......Congrats on a great find.

Here is a picture of a set of pterygoid teeth in the mouth of a mosasaur and the hinged joint . These teeth are used to help swallowing prey...just like a snake does ..that is why they have joints on both sides of the lower jaw.

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Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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Justin....It looks like a Cretaceous Mosasaur maximus tooth.... :faint: ,,,, very very rare mosasaur tooth I have been hunting for one of those teeth for many years now...I did find a very small one ,,I think mine is a Maximus pterygoid tooth which is a set of teeth on the roof of a mosasaur mouth. That is a wonderful tooth.....If you ever get board of looking at .... I would be more then happy to take it off your hands..... :D ... there is both Cretaceous and Miocene deposits in GMR ......Congrats on a great find.

Here is a picture of a set of pterygoid teeth in the mouth of a mosasaur and the hinged joint . These teeth are used to help swallowing prey...just like a snake does ..that is why they have joints on both sides of the lower jaw.

attachicon.gifpterygoid450.jpg

attachicon.gifclid05.jpg

What tells you it is M. maximus? Mosasaur teeth are not terribly uncommon at this location. Could there be more than one species present?

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What tells me that it a M.Maximus ..is its length and its shape and how its base widened just before turning inward as well as the tooth is faceted which is a dead give away. Maximus teeth are rare and very uncommon Besides the ones in the NJSM I have only seen two in private hands and a jaw section in the M.A.P.S collection. Other Mosasaur's are some what common for the most part...but not M.Maximus ....Yes there could be several different types in the east coast Cretaceous deposits.

Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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What tells me that it a M.Maximus ..is its length and its shape and how its base widened just before turning inward as well as the tooth is faceted which is a dead give away. Maximus teeth are rare and very uncommon Besides the ones in the NJSM I have only seen two in private hands and a jaw section in the M.A.P.S collection. Other Mosasaur's are some what common for the most part...but not M.Maximus ....Yes there could be several different types in the east coast Cretaceous deposits.

Thanks. Just curious as to what I have from the location the OP found that one at.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks guys for the help! It was one heck of a find and one of the nicer fossils I've seen out of the GMR. @ Njfossil hunter, I wish I could say its mine but my cousin. who I took with me found it along with a few large whale tympanic bullas and a horse tooth. My "best" finds were some decent sized meg or ric partials. Lately it seems that whenever I take friends hunting they tend to find the nicer specimens lol but I truly enjoy enjoy helping people catch the fossil bug.

Ya'll's input made me go look back at what I considered crocadilian teeth from past trips to the GMR and turns out I have what appears to be a juvenile mosasaur tooth (I post a pic when I get back to the house) .

Thanks again!

Justin

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We have several species and genera of mosasaurs in NC. I agree that what has been identified as maximus teeth are very large and faceted. It's very tough to ID most mosasaur teeth though. Globidens and Carinodens are two exceptions.

Show us a detailed picture of the base of your tooth please. Croc teeth show construction of concentric rings. Not so much in mosasaurs and not at all in mosasaurs if the base is fairly complete.

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